Here’s further evidence of how far the debate on Social Security has come among elected Democrats in the last few years: Sen. Patty Murray, part of the leadership team, is reintroducing legislation to expand benefits for women.
Under a proposal from Washington Sen. Patty Murray released Tuesday, unmarried, divorced and widowed Americans would get bigger Social Security checks, while those who were previously married would be able to access a percentage of their ex-spouses' benefits. (Under current law, those married for less than a decade are ineligible for their spouses' benefits.)
"Over the past several decades, the workforce has changed, families have changed, and our economy has changed, but in some important ways, Social Security hasn’t kept up," Murray told TIME.
Retirement security is more challenging for women for a number of reasons—they traditionally are in and out of the workforce during working years because of time spent raising children or caregiving; they have lower wages subject to the payroll tax; and they're less likely to have an employer-sponsored pension. They also live longer, and in their elderly years, benefits are often outstripped by inflation. The changes in Murray's proposal, paid for with a 2 percent payroll tax on income above $400,000, would definitely help alleviate some of those problems.
There's another element that should be considered as well, though, and that's a "caregiver credit," giving anyone who takes time out of the workforce to provide care for a family member credit for those years at a value equivalent to half the median wage for full-time work. Add in that provision (for example, Rep. Nita Lowey's Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2015) and this would be a very solid proposal.
It's not going to move anywhere in a Republican-led Senate. But, given it's sponsored by someone in leadership, it is significant that it's out there. The Democratic candidates for president are all talking about the need to expand Social Security to varying degrees. That's significant—and most welcome—movement.